CBA, Delisted Supplier Link to Push Analog-Sellthrough Boxes
Getting analog-passthrough DTV converters to consumers whose coupons are about to expire is the goal of a tie-in low-power TV’s Community Broadcasters Association debuted Tuesday with box supplier Microprose. But Microprose was delisted as a certified supplier, apparently because it’s against NTIA rules to redeem coupons for pre-orders, as Microprose was doing, an agency spokesman said.
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Visitors to the CBA’s KeepUsOn.com site will find a link to Microprose’s Web store, activated Tuesday despite technical kinks and still active late that day. At the store, visitors can use coupons toward purchase of an MPI-500 PT box, one of the few models with analog passthrough. The MPI-500 PT can be ordered toll-free by phone from Microprose, the CBA site says. The box lists for $69, but a $10 discount and a $40 coupon cuts out of pocket expense to $19, Microprose said. The company offers $5 more off to consumers mentioning the CBA tie-in, CBA said.
Phoning the Microprose hot line, we were told the MPI- 500 won’t be available until July. Microprose redeem coupons before they expire, not charging our credit card until the box ships, a representative told us. But an NTIA spokesman said it’s questionable at best whether Microprose is within program rules to accept a coupon without having boxes to deliver. We were awaiting more definitive NTIA comment at our deadline as to whether the rules expressly forbid taking coupons for pre-orders. Similar infractions have landed at least two e-commerce merchants in hot water with NTIA, which bounced them from the program, the spokesman said.
CBA has it on good faith from Microprose that it will maintain an ongoing supply of boxes, said Greg Herman, CBA vice president of technology. Rather than eject Microprose from the program, NTIA should “do something” for consumers whose coupons are about to lapse without being used to buy an analog-passthrough box, Herman said. Amy Brown, CBA executive director, estimated that many thousands of consumers would be disenfranchised. Among them are early adopters, some of the first to order them when the program went live in January, Brown said. She suggested many weren’t just sitting passively watching coupons near expiration, but have postponed purchases waiting for an analog-passthrough box to become available.
CBA member stations will promote the MPI-500 PT converter box as “a valuable solution,” the group’s announcement said. That’s a far cry from CBA leaders’ House testimony in February when they called analog-passthrough boxes as “user-unfriendly.” CBA then sued in the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit, seeking to have all boxes but those with dual NTSC and ATSC tuners declared in violation of the All-Channel Receiver Act. But two weeks ago, even before the case moved forward, the court rejected CBA’s complaint. CBA still thinks analog- passthrough boxes violate the ACRA, but they're a far better solution that boxes without analog passthrough, Herman said. CBA still views those as “user-hostile,” Herman said.